First published in 1890, The Sign of Four is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's second book starring legendary detective Sherlock Holmes. The story is complex, involving a secret between four ex-cons from India and a hidden treasure. More complex than the first Holmes novel, The Sign of Four also introduces the detective's drug habit and leaves breadcrumbs for the reader that lead toward the final resolution. Readers are offered an explanation of the mystery from the killer's perspective, encouraging a sense of sympathy with the condemned that the previous book also lacked. Any fan of the mystery genre should consider this book a must-read. Scottish surgeon and political activist SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE (1859-1930) turned his passions into stories and novels, producing fiction and nonfiction works sometimes controversial (The Great Boer War, 1900), sometimes fanciful (The Coming of the Fairies, 1922), and sometimes legendary (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1892).

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

The music of Pulitzer Prize winning composer Michael Colgrass is the music of our time. His works have been commissioned, performed and recorded by major symphony orchestras and noted soloists around the world, and his distinctive voice - steeped in a number of musical histories and styles - has been praised and lauded by critics and audiences alike. Colgrass' "uncanny ability to write accessible music that simultaneously challenges the intellect and stirs the emotions" is the subject of this book. Colgrass' artistic development; the evolution of his work towards "a polyphony of musics"; and his background in acting and theater training are examined at length. Two particular works - Deja vu and Winds of Nagual - are considered in some detail. Colgrass' recent works have involved fusing the many layers of cultural styles, moving towards a grand synthesis of his "counterpoint of characters." Musicians, performers, conductors, admirers of Colgrass' works, wind band enthusiasts, and devotees of contemporary music will all find A Counterpoint of Characters stimulating reading.

Viviane, a beautiful Celtic princess, unwittingly unravels the spell that binds the spirit of the evil Idoc within a circle of tall stones. Once released, the sorcerer-priest uses his powers to deliver vengeance upon those responsible for his original enslavement - including the Princess Viviane. With Idoc in possession of the body of Prince Caradawc, her betrothed, Viviane can no longer judge safely between friend and foe, between this life and previous incarnations. Yet to rescue Caradawc from his nightmare, she must risk everything to reach the dreaded dark tower where Idoc waits. And, to ensure victory over evil, she must seek out Lucifer's Emerald. She journeys through dreams and nightmare, beauty and horror, good and evil to save her lover and destroy the sorcerer-priest. This is a quest for spiritual grace which is beautifully depicted and includes all the timeless ingredients of legend.

It is not often that a work can literally rewrite a person's view of a subject. And this is exactly what Rudwick's book should do for many paleontologists' view of the history of their own field.--Stephen J. Gould, Paleobotany and Palynology Rudwick has not merely written the first book-length history of palaeontology in the English language; he has written a very intelligent one. . . . His accounts of sources are rounded and organic: he treats the structure of arguments as Cuvier handled fossil bones.--Roy S. Porter, History of Science